ATLANTA — The Phillies saw their first two starters get knocked around roughly by the Braves’ unabashed mashers. Thursday night, the temperature dropped and Cliff Lee put the freeze on Atlanta’s hope to send the Phils back to Philly bruised by a sweep to open the season.

Lee didn’t get much more run support than he got during a frustrating 2012 that saw him earn winning decisions in just six of his 30 starts, but he had little trouble making the little he got stick in a 2-0 series-salvaging win over Atlanta at Turner Field.

Lee allowed just two hits – a two-out single by Dan Uggla in the second inning, and a base hit by Justin Upton in the fourth that quickly was erased by an inning-ending double play.

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“Yeah, I didn’t get my first win last season until the Fourth of July,” Lee said, a fact difficult to comprehend. “It’s nice to get it out of the way on the first start, that’s for sure.”

The only other batter to reach base was Gerald Laird, who led off the sixth with a bouncer that went off Chase Utley’s glove for an error. Lee stranded him at first by retiring the next three batters, then needed just 21 pitches to zip through the seventh and eighth innings and hand it over to Jonathan Papelbon.

Lee was on deck after the first two batters in the top of the eighth made outs. It might have been a blessing that Erik Kratz skied to center to end the inning, because that allowed Lee to breeze through the bottom of Atlanta’s order and save set-up reliever Mike Adams for the home opener after he pitched Wednesday.

“I thought if we had a chance to score it might have made it tough for us (not to pinch-hit for Lee in the eighth),” Manuel said. “I felt like the last three innings his pitched might have been his best, in terms of getting after it.”

Lee helped right the ship after Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay were flogged for 10 runs and five homers in the first two games combined. Lee got a chance to watch Atlanta’s new-look lineup and how it attacked pitchers. Clearly he found some vulnerabilities.

“The first two innings they battled and got my pitch count up,” Lee said of the Braves. “So to get eight innings after the first two innings and how that went, it felt pretty good.”

Lee threw 106 pitches, 78 for strikes in his most dominating performance since he worked 10 shutout innings against San Francisco in his third start of last season.

“When it’s that cold, it’s not as big a deal to throw more pitches, in my opinion,” Lee said. “When it’s 95 degrees it’s more taxing and takes more out of you.”

The Phillies got both of their runs in the top of the second, as Braves starter Kris Medlen had difficulty with his control for five innings of work. It was the first time Atlanta lost one of the right-hander’s starts since May 23, 2010, a stretch of 23 starts that were interrupted by Tommy John Surgery in 2011.

After Medlen escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, the Phillies opened the second with Laynce Nix singling and catcher Erik Kratz thumping a double to left. Lee then helped himself by working a walk to load the bags.

For some reason, Ben Revere decided to take a hack at the first two pitches after Lee’s free pass, then seemed to hit into a costly double play. However, Braves second baseman Dan Uggla inexplicably failed to make the relay throw to first, as Nix scored. After Jimmy Rollins worked another walk, Chase Utley scored Kratz with a sacrifice fly.

Before the game, Charlie Manuel tried to make light of the fact that some fans back home were edgy over the Phils losing their first two games.

“I’m gonna panic and go up there and jump off top of that stadium,” he said, motioning to the nosebleed seats at Turner Field. “It would be my luck to live.”

Fortunately for Manuel and the Phils, they get to show up at Citizens Bank Park for their opener with a win under their belts. After the win, the manager confessed the reception for the home opener will be much kinder and gentler as a 1-2 team than it would have been at 0-3.

“That’s without a doubt ... without a doubt that helps,” Manuel said. “We’ve got hope now.”

“It’s still way early,” Lee said. “Obviously we would have liked to have won all three, but you can’t do that once you lose one. Those first two games are behind us. Hopefully we can carry that win into Philly.”

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After the game the Phillies announced that the Diamondbacks paid the fee to bring outfielder Ender Inciarte back to the organization after the Phils selected him in the Rule 5 draft. The 22-year-old Venezuelan was dropped from the Phils’ 25-man roster when they picked up outfielder Ezequiel Carrera off waivers Tuesday.